Jolene Sharpe N/k/a Lyon, Appellant v. Jyzyk Sharpe, Appellee

Summary

The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Jolene’s request to reduce her child-support obligation after she voluntarily left a well-paying Anchorage job, moved to Stebbins, and adopted a subsistence lifestyle. The court held that the superior court properly considered her cultural, spiritual, and personal needs but reasonably prioritized the child’s financial needs and found her voluntary unemployment unreasonable. Because Jolene raised her free-exercise claim for the first time on appeal, the court reviewed it for plain error and found none. Justice Winfree, dissenting, would have remanded for findings based on employment opportunities in Stebbins and consideration of the free-exercise claim; Justice Stowers joined that proposed remand in part but rejected the asserted free-exercise claim as insufficiently developed.